Choose
by Sable-Reiver
Summary: AU - No prior knowledge of Corpse Party required. A school that slowly consumes all who are trapped there. Sora, Riku, Roxas and Axel are about to become it's next victims... unless you choose wisely. SoRiku/AkuRoku, though they're separated. Rated for dark themes and coarse language.
1. Prologue

"Roxas! In here."

The blond boy turned on his heel, moving back towards the classroom he'd just passed. Axel held the door open for him, waving with the other hand at the two friends they'd been looking for.

"There you guys are. We've been looking all over for you."

Sora smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. We've just kind of been hanging out in here all day."

The redhead chuckled. "What, not out enjoying the end-of-school party?"

It wasn't a surprise when both him and Riku shook their heads. Some people would be surprised that the bubbly brunet wasn't out running around and saying goodbye to everybody, but the four of them had been friends (and a pair of couples) long enough to know that today was less a day of celebration than it was of appreciation. And it was with their small group that they all wanted to spend their time.

After all, with it being their last year in high school, they wouldn't be able to see each other very much. They'd all decided to do different things or go to different schools, and while is wasn't like they'd never talk, it was going to be a big change from what they're used to. So it wasn't hard to reason out why they just wanted to chat, instead of attempt to be civil in the bigger crowd of not-quite-as-close friends.

"Hard to believe three years went by so fast." Axel commented, wistfulness colouring his voice.

Sora nodded and laughed. "I know! I feel like I slept through most of it."

Beside him, Riku rolled his eyes. "That's because you _did_." He smiled at the tongue stuck out at him. "Just make sure you don't sleep through your alarm, Mr. Full-Time."

"Well... make sure _you_ actually GET some sleep, Mr. University!"

They all laughed, feeling a bit better know that some things hadn't changed.

When they'd calmed a bit, Roxas hopped up on one of the desks and swivelled to look at the other couple, though he tried to appear as nonchalant as possible. "So I found a thing online."

Looks were cast around. Riku spoke up. "A thing?"

"Yeah, it's a..." He scratched the back of his head. "A friendship charm... thing." His words got quieter as his face got redder. Axel laughed beside him and the blond glared, reaching over to punch his boyfriend in the arm. "Shut up man."

"Sorry, sorry. I just didn't know you were such a sap Roxy."

The smaller boy looked away. "Not a sap. It's supposed to make sure we stay friends forever, no matter what."

He let himself be pulled into a hug. "You're _definitely_ a sap. Got it memorized?" Though there was still laughter in the tone, it was softer. An unspoken apology.

Across from him, Sora was grinning. "That sounds awesome! We should do it. Right now, while nobody's looking for us." He swatted at the hand that ruffled his hair.

"Sure, why not. How does this charm of yours work Rox?" Riku asked, easily grabbing hold of Sora's wrist with only a cursory glance in his direction and lacing their fingers together in his lap. He felt the brunet lean against his side.

"Okay," Roxas paused, reaching into his backpack to bring out one of those people cut out of paper. "Everybody grab hold of a part of it." He waited until they all had. "Now, in your heads, say the phrase 'Sachiko, we beg of you' four times, once for each of us. No more, no less."

The group fell into silence as they repeated the phrase in their minds. They looked back to Roxas when they finished. "Everybody say it four times?" Affirmation around the circle. "Okay. Now on three - yes _on three_ Axel, not _after_ three - everyone pull on the Sachiko charm until it rips and you have your own piece. Then, just keep the piece of the charm and we'll stay linked forever." Axel didn't snicker this time, only smiled as they all focused in. "One, two..."

On three they all pulled. The paper tore easily under the stress, and they all grinned at each other over their pieces of the charm.

Suddenly the floor tremored beneath them. The boys reached out to steady themselves when it happened again, hard enough to rock some of the desks and chairs.

"An earthquake?!" Sora gasped, thrown backwards into Riku as the floor _heaved, _dust raining through the cracks in the ceiling. They all grabbed hold of each other as they went down, the room quaking dangerously. The desks by the back wall suddenly vanished with the sound of wood breaking. More and more rows disappeared, as the gaping hole that replaced the floor raced towards them. They tried to scramble backwards but the collapse was too fast - Sora went first and screamed, the others dragged in with him as they clung to each other's hands.

* * *

_I realize Reiver hasn't played or watched someone play Corpse Party, but I decided to do a little something based off of it anyways for Halloween; a kind of 'Your Choice' adventure through fanfiction. For those of you elsewise who know of the game, this is an extremely scaled down version._

_In the following five chapters, a single choice will be presented, and you (Reiver) must decide how to answer. Each answer is worth either +1 or -1, depending on what you choose. Which ending you get will depend on whether you have more +1's or -1's after five choices. You won't be told whether you were right or wrong on your previous choice (though you may be able to figure it out on your own) - you'll only be told your final score in Chapter 6. I will be uploading MWF for the next two weeks, so the final chapter will land on Halloween._

_Let's see if you can line up the pieces._

_-Sable_


	2. Riku & Roxas: the Note

Roxas groaned. His body ached... what was he lying on? Not his bed... wood? The darkness behind his eyelids felt too close. The air was too heavy in his lungs. He forced his eyes open.

Wood... a wooden floor. Desks and chairs nearby. A classroom? But when he pushed himself up, he saw the desks were too small for a high school. Where the hell...? Roxas shook his head; where didn't matter at the moment. He had to try to find the others.

His ankle twinged painfully as he stood, enough that he could tell it was a sprain. More importantly though, standing up, he spotted Riku sprawled across the floor on the other side of of a massive gap that cut the room in two. He tried calling, but the other boy didn't move. Roxas grit his teeth.

"Going to have to find a way around or across." He muttered to himself, limping heavily as he headed for the doorway.

The hallway didn't look any better. The floor itself felt rotten, whole pieces of it missing, opening up to a gaping darkness. What was there was made treacherous by split and raised boards, and debris from the walls and ceiling. The air was even thicker out there. It was hard to breathe.

Luckily there was a path to the door on the other side of the classroom, and Roxas collapsed next to Riku's body. He called the teen's name, shaking him as much as he could until he heard a groan. Letting out a sigh of relief, he sat back, watching his friend slowly regain consciousness.

"Rox?" The question was almost quiet enough to miss.

"Yeah, I'm here. Not that I know where here _is_."

Riku turned his head and winced. Gingerly, he felt along his scalp, coming to a nice gash by his temple that seemed to have stopped bleeding for the moment, though it stuck his hair uncomfortably to his face.

They sat there for a few minutes, taking the time to gather their wits and for Riku to get his bearings back. Then they tried the windows, straining futilely against the wooden frames that refused to budge.

"No good." Riku huffed, staring at the fixture. "It's like it's not even real. Just carved into the wall or something." He shook his head, shifting his gaze to the other boy across the room. He was reading something. "What is it?"

A shrug. "Ever hear of a place called Heavenly Host Elementary School?"

"Nope."

"Me either. But this notice or whatever is for it's faculty and students."

Riku glanced around. "I don't think anyone's been here... in a long time." He intoned, unnerved by something about the place. Roxas nodded his agreement.

They looked around a bit more, but with nothing forthcoming, decided to venture out of the classroom with Riku supporting the shorter boy to keep weight off his ankle. Try to see what (or who) else they could find. Roxas stopped them before they got too far, eyes locked on another piece of paper.

"That wasn't there when I was out here before."

Riku picked it up. "It's... a news report. About some kidnappings-turned-murder from this school." He fell silent, his eyes scanning the page further down. "Sounds like," He flinched, swallowing thickly as he put the paper back. "It was pretty gruesome. Come on. We should get going."

* * *

The pair of them roamed up and down the ravaged hallways, pausing occasionally to rest or read another slip of paper. They did their best to keep the cloying silence at bay with idle chatter, finding topics they had yet to explore in all their years of knowing each other. It wasn't difficult to keep talking, not when it felt like if they didn't, the quiet would consume them.

The building was unnatural. It seemed to be abandoned, but the structure creaked and groaned like it was alive itself. Whole sections of floor were missing. There were notes littered about, written by different people containing pleas and promises. They found one carved into the floor next to a skeleton – Riku had to steer Roxas away as the blond gagged, barely managing to hold himself together. And they read all of them. It felt... necessary somehow. Like hearing the final words of a dying man.

Their way upstairs was cut off by another hole, so they circled back, slumping against a wall on the lower level.

"What _is_ this place?" Roxas whispered. He felt like he'd been up-heaved; like some vital part of him had destabilized and now he was barely holding it together. He couldn't even say how long they'd been there for, but god was he happy to be with Riku. Without the company, the blond was sure he'd have gone mad by now.

Riku didn't answer the question, too busy stirring the words they'd found in his brain. How many people had been here? The notes they'd found had been filled with terror or some kind of desperate hope. People looking for their friends, or agonizing over the finals moments of their life. It'd been horrible, getting through them all. And now those words wouldn't leave him alone. The only good thing was a couple of them had mentioned some kind of way out, but with no details, the information was useless.

More than that, both of them were worrying about where the other two were. Were they wandering around like them? Were they even together? Riku didn't doubt that Sora would be fine on his own as much as Axel would be – both were strong people. But some of the things they'd seen and read... okay Sora was strong, but he was too empathetic for his own good sometimes. How would he react, seeing the bodies? How would Axel? They had to find them.

The pair got up again, shuffling down another hallway and pushing their way into a new classroom. Riku let the other down on a chair and stretched until he felt something pop in his spine. Then he went about looking around the room, determinedly _not_ looking at the body in the back corner. He wouldn't until he had to.

The desks were empty and vacant of carved messages. There was another notice on the wall, talking about the murders. It supplied more detail, the parts that were legible anyways. The bottom half was completely soaked in blood, and long since dried.

He took one look at the cabinet in the corner and backed away, giving the thing a wide berth; it was packed full of black hair and maggots wriggling their way through the strands. There was nothing left to check but the body.

Trying to steel himself, Riku made his way back, covering his mouth and nose with one hand at the lingering stench of decay; this one wasn't just a skeleton. There was some flesh that yet clung to the bones. He didn't have to get too close to see the pieces of paper clenched in the hands.

"Rox. There's another note." He called, voice thick.

The other boy turned to look at him. "Read it; we have to know more about this way out."

He knew that. They'd discussed it earlier, agreed to read every scrap they could find after the first hint of some escape route. But this... this felt different. Some lingering sense of dread paralyzed Riku. He didn't want to read this one. It could be a way out but... he didn't care. Not this time. He _couldn't_.

Roxas was at his shoulder. "Riku," His voice was soft, like he could see or sense the sudden terror that had seized the teen. "If it can get us and Sora and Axel out of here, we have to know."

"No, not this time we don't. Not this one Roxas. _Please._"

* * *

_Choose: Read the note or walk away?_

_-Sable_


	3. Riku & Roxas: Hiding

_You chose to walk away..._

* * *

Roxas looked at his friend. He couldn't tell exactly what was going through his mind, but some part of his gut relaxed when he back off from the note.

"Okay Riku, we won't. I'm not a total asshole."

The other boy breathed a shaky sigh and laughed softly. It sounded forced, but there was a genuine relief there. "No, but you _are_ dating one."

The blond chuckled himself, feeling a shiver work itself across his shoulders as he thought about Axel. He'd be okay – he was a big boy. He could handle himself. It would be fine.

They both picked their way away from the body, relaxing the further they got. There was nothing else in the room of interest to look at, so they stepped out, Roxas' arm looped around Riku's shoulders again. With no clear heading, they just kind of picked a way, retreading ground they'd crossed before. The same creaking woods, the same white skeletons.

* * *

Dangerous groaning underfoot was all the warning they got before a board snapped under Riku, sending one of his feet plunging through the floor and leaving the boy hang on the edge of another consuming pit. Roxas yelped at the sudden weight on his foot, but bit his lip and fought through it to help the other scramble back up.

They both collapsed several meters away, their hearts pounding in their chests.

"This place is falling apart." Roxas gasped, propping himself up to stare at the hole. He could see Riku nod in his peripheral vision. Neither of them wanted to think about how much longer the floor was going to hold up under them.

They were up and moving again soon enough, now giving the dark chasms as wide a berth as possible. They tried the stairs again, surprised to see the hole there suddenly repaired and feeling very solid under their feet. It was something that put them on edge, even if it was technically a good thing.

The second floor was in better shape than the first; holes weren't quite so abundant, though those that were there still opened into an empty black space; no sign of where they'd come from. They found what were supposed to be bathrooms, going by the rotted signs posted in front. But those doors, much like the windows, refused to budge an inch. There would be no getting through them.

More notes. More of the same. Only one mention of this way out, but no specifics; it looked like the bottom half of the paper had been torn off, but the other piece was no where in sight. Riku crumpled it with a choked sigh.

Roxas didn't say anything. He could feel the frustration beginning to crawl through him too, and he didn't want to antagonize either of them by being a smart-ass.

They didn't talk anymore as they wandered, scouring the rest of the upstairs. All topics had been exhausted, or if not them, then the words. Where their chatter had flowed freely before, now it stuck to the walls of their throats. It was hard to even swallow around them. Now, it was just silence.

It was only because it was silent that Riku heard it; a muffled thudding, and the sound of something being dragged across the floor. He motioned to Roxas to stay quiet and peered around the corner of the stairwell, his back pressed to the wall.

Down a ways stood a man. His skin looked pallid gray against his black clothes, and his eyes... even from the distance they were at, he could tell they were completely red. Like every blood vessel in them had broken; trails of it leaked down his cheeks from the corners of his eyes. The teen felt himself tense as the man grunted and groaned – he sounded like a zombie. And he was dragging the corpse of the girl who'd been clutching the note.

Bile rose in his throat and he leaned back around the corner, praying he hadn't been seen. The noises, his footsteps no doubt, continued, moving away from them. It didn't make Riku feel any better.

"We need to get out of the open." He whispered, fearful of being too loud. Roxas didn't question what he'd seen, only nodded. One last peak around the corner and they were off, shuffling and limping as fast as they could go, so focused on keeping quiet and not tripping that they didn't notice it was a new hallway altogether.

They paused between two doors, panting softly. The footsteps had returned, thumping from behind them. They didn't have time to move anywhere else, they had to choose now; it was one door or the other. A classroom or the Infirmary. More places to hide, or a possibility to bind the blond's ankle.

* * *

_Choose: Enter the classroom, or the Infirmary?_

_AN: I'd like to respond to a review from guest Merry, to clarify a few things: this is an extremely scaled down version of Corpse Party. It's going to last a total (including the prologue and ending) of seven chapters; there won't be a grand adventure. To put it simply, these four have the opportunity to be the luckiest people to venture into Heavenly Host. Due to wanting to post the final chapter on Halloween, I simply don't have the time to include a larger group of people. You'll find there will be pieces of the game story in here from various parts, often from very different points in the game. The layout of the school itself is different. In short, this isn't a Corpse Party recreation with Kingdom Hearts characters, just a short adventure!_

_-Sable_


	4. Axel & Sora: the Room

"Any luck over there Axel?"

"None."

Sora scowled, turning the expression from his friend to the window he'd been pulling on. The surface reflected his face easily; beyond the glass, there was only darkness. Not a hint of anything, light or landscape. The windows wouldn't budge. Nothing did. There was a door in the front corner of the room that could've just been painted on, for all it moved.

"We're going to have to leave Sora."

It was an option he'd been trying his best to ignore for valid but stupid reasons. What if Roxas and Riku were nearby, wandering around, and he and Axel left and missed them? Then again, what if Riku and Roxas were stuck or hurt and needed their help? They weren't getting anywhere staying put, but Sora was reluctant to leave the room that they knew was safe, despite the groaning of the floor beneath their feet and the ominous pitfalls in a couple of the corners.

Still, he sighed and nodded, wringing his hands togethert. "I hope they're okay..."

Axel looked back at him with a reassuring smile. "I'm sure they will be. Our boys are pretty tough. Thought you had that memorized." Sora grunted at the light flick to his forehead. He could tell the smaller still wasn't convinced, so he tried something else. "How about we leave them a note? I don't have any paper, but I have my knife; we can carve it into the podium at the front, just in case we miss each other." That seemed to help. It was a simple message, stating that they were okay and they'd be back to check the room again later.

They traversed the floor for a while after that, guided by the gaps that cut them off from other sections. There were rooms that wouldn't open, creaking boards that threatened to collapse at every corner, blood smears along the walls and floor. Both put on a strong front for the other, but the feeling of being followed strained every small effort. It didn't help when they came across an article that talked about the murders that had happened in the basement of this school. They'd been perpetrated by the principal's son, who'd gone mad as some mental illness rotted his brain.

Sora tensed at every noise after that. Axel had taken to glancing behind them.

* * *

"Is... is that-"

"Oh god, it's human hair." Sora turned from the door they'd been hoping to be able to open, feeling bile rise in his throat. Axel stared at the wiry strands crisscrossing the doorway, sewing it shut, preventing anyone from entering. He glanced at Sora, then down the hall further. It was dark, almost too dark to see the-

The redhead grit his teeth and quickly turned away, herding his friend back down the way they'd come. Sora didn't need to know. He didn't need to see the body splayed lifelessly on the ground, decaying but still whole enough to see the organs that had spilled out and – it was a girl. He'd seen that it was a girl in that single second, and that was all he needed to know. Not Roxas. Not Riku. He didn't want to think about it, but the image was seared to the back of his eyes.

Axel couldn't protect his friend for long; they quickly stumbled across another body, this one thankfully just a pile of bones. Sora jerked backwards into the taller boy. Then he saw the note next to the body, and he stepped forward shakily to read it.

_Why can't I find you Shig? I keep thinking I'll turn the corner and you'll be right there. But I'm all alone... why? Why do I have to be alone! I need you! I can't do this by myself! But if I can't find you... please live. There's a way out, I read it in someone's note. Please find the way out... please stay alive._

They both shivered, feeling the desperation behind the words. Some poor soul trapped, and had died here. All alone. Sora stepped back to Axel and slid his hand into the others. The warmth and pressure were reassuring; they were together. They wouldn't end up like this person.

It seemed like more bodies were cropping up now as they continued. Suddenly there were skeletons or remains in various states of decay where there hadn't been any before. Some had notes, some didn't; only two out of the dozen they found had any reference to a way out. Still, it was enough for them to hope.

Axel stepped back from the latest corpse, the bones small enough to belong to that of a preteen. His hand clenched around the ID he'd found on it; they were collecting them, like dog tags from dead soldiers. Something to maybe bring back with them to give closure to any families that remained. Some of the dates though... they ranged from last month to thirty years ago, and those just from what they'd found.

So much suffering, concentrated in one place. No wonder the whole building reeked of death. No wonder if felt like something black was hovering just out of sight, waiting for them to falter.

After a few minutes of wandering, they looped back to the hallway with the door covered in hair. It was the one place they had yet to explore more thoroughly. Axel didn't want to go back down it. He didn't want to chance seeing that poor girl again – it was still more gruesome than any of the other bodies they'd found. But Sora made the point that they didn't have anywhere else to go. He lead; Axel followed reluctantly, lagging behind.

The brunet ended up vomiting when he saw the corpse. He had to steady himself against the wall, heaving in breaths even as he coughed. Axel hovered, just about bouncing on the balls of his feet, ready to leave. As soon as Sora shifted, he turned – a hand grabbed his shirt.

"Wait." The smaller boy rasped. He cleared his throat. "There's a door."

Axel tensed. He glanced over his shoulder; sure enough, just past the gory scene was a door sunken into the far wall. But even if it was some place they hadn't been, he didn't want to go in there. He didn't want to have to step over that girl. He didn't want to see what might be in that room. It might as well have been sewn shut as well for all he wanted to open that door.

"Axel... we have to."

He shook his head. "No. We don't 'have to' _do_ anything. I'm sure there's some place else we haven't checked." Sora's look told him that he was wrong. He knew it, too; they'd checked everywhere else they could get to. "I don't want to go in there."

"I don't want to either, but... okay maybe we don't 'have to', but we really _should_."

* * *

_Choose: Enter the room, or leave it be?_

_-Sable_


	5. Axel & Sora: the Charms

_You chose to enter the room..._

* * *

Axel let out a strangled breath, his eyes dancing across Sora's face. The smaller boy looked at him, and then steeling himself, turned around and moved towards the door. The redhead couldn't manage to force the words out that he wanted to say. Every warning and remark stuck lodged in his throat as his friend stepped over the body. He shivered, moving haltingly to follow.

The door slid silently open without a problem. The room inside was dark and empty of bodies as far as Sora could tell, carefully making his way inside. Desks lined the floor, and a grand piano stood in the back corner, looking oddly well-preserved compared to its surroundings. There were some cabinets and a teacher's desk, and nothing else. Or, well, so it seemed at first.

Once inside the room, Axel's nerves seemed to settle a bit. They split up, wandering around, checking the windows and the desks and the piano. In their search, they turned up several different pieces of paper. Some notes like the rest, and a newspaper article like the one before. One though, seemed to be part of someone's journal. There was no fear in her words, just indifferent dictation. She listed the facts of the circumstances and her own reactions to being in this place, physical and mental. Apparently, Heavenly Host had been torn down after the kidnappings and murders, but the ghosts of the children lingered and created a kind of... subspace that it still existed in? Neither of the boys tried to make much sense of that part.

What was of particular interest though, was the mention of an escape route. And this time, it gave all of the details.

_'The spell trigger is the phrase, 'Sachiko, we beg of you.' It must be chanted once for each participant, then one additional time for Sachiko. Following this, the proxy doll is to be torn apart. (Should the proxy doll recovered from the ruins of the old Shinozaki estate be unavailable... ...a printed facsimile will suffice for the purposes of this ritual.) If everything is performed as indicated, the spirit will pass by harmlessly, and nothing of note should occur. If any part of this ritual is performed incorrectly, however, then Sachiko herself will descend upon any viable spirit medium in the vicinity... ...and all present will be afflicted with her curse and spirited away to the sacred ground._

_Procedure for Reversal - If you've angered Sachiko, you may atone by redoing the ritual properly...but in reverse. First, produce your remnant of the proxy doll...'_

Axel immediately turned to Sora. "Do you still have your paper scrap?"

The boy nodded firmly, easily producing it from his pocket and smiling as his friend did the same. The rest of the instructions were simple; this was the part they needed to worry about. This, and finding Roxas and Riku. They had a way out, they had a way to get back home.

The rest of the scraps they put back, but the one with the instructions they kept. They did one last circuit of the room, Axel pausing by the piano when a glint caught his eye. Arching an eyebrow, he peered down through the top, blinking at the stone therein. It only took a bit of carefully twisting to get it out, though his fingers were still lined with red from the pressure on the wires. It was a small stone, though there was a faint purple glow to it that told him it was anything but normal. Sora shrugged and said they might as well keep it. There was nothing else for them to look at, so they left.

* * *

They made their way downstairs, stopping every now and again, but wanting to keep a sharp eye out in case their friends were nearby. Somehow, it felt like they weren't. Like they were alone in this space. The building groaned around them, and it was the only noise they heard. No footsteps, no distant voices, nothing. Just eerie silence.

They were returning from an unsuccessful try at the front doors when the stone in Axel's pocket grew warm. The boy frowned and took it out, staring as the stone seemed to vibrate minutely. He was still staring as he went to catch up with Sora – the warmth lessened. The shaking stopped. The brunet watched in confusion as Axel literally backtracked, staring at his palm.

"What's up?"

"I think the stone might be playing a game of Marco-Polo with me."

Sora shook his head with a chuckle. "Try Warmer-Colder."

"Red Light Green Light?"

"That's wrong and you know it. Let's follow it though; it could be helpful."

So they did, and it wasn't a very far journey. The reactions of the stone led them down a previously inaccessible hallway to a different open area. The two boys stared at the door in front of them, the stone trembling.

"They look like... protective charms." Sora whispered, peering at the slips of paper plastered over the doors, what notes he could read warning anyone off. The entire thing exuded malevolence with a veracity that kept both of them from wanting to move closer. But the stone was figuratively pointing them to the interior; Axel took a single step forward and the edges of one of the slips began to curl and turn to ash. He stepped back, and it stopped.

"So, what, this thing gets rid of the charms so we can go in there? That seems like something I really don't want to do." He grumbled, and Sora couldn't help but agree. There had to be a reason someone had basically wallpapered the door shut with banishment, sealing and barrier spells. Then again...

"What if... it's sealed like that because.. that's the other half? You know... where Riku and Roxas are?" He asked. It wasn't exactly impossible; if the school or the ghosts or whatever wanted to keep them separated, why _not_ do it like this? They'd assumed correctly that neither of them wanted to open that door because of it.

Axel gave him a look. "How are you so optimistic about this place? More likely there's something that wants to kill us inside."

* * *

_Choose: Destroy the charms, or leave them be?_

_-Sable_


	6. The Final Choice

_You chose to enter the Infirmary..._

* * *

With a quiet grunt, Roxas pulled Riku in his direction. The boy went without comment or complaint, quickly pulling the door open so they could shuffle in. They pressed themselves to the door when it closed, listening with baited breath. The footsteps thudded past. They didn't even slow down; the man hadn't noticed them.

The collective held breath was released in shaky sighs, and the pair found themselves grinning at each other for their behaviour, though the expressions seemed muted and off. Riku turned to the room that opened behind them.

It wasn't very large, and like the rest of the place, the floor was in bad shape. But the quiet wasn't as oppressive. It felt almost normal in there. Like they could actually take a moment to not worry constantly. He wasn't sure if he should be wary or not about the want to let his guard down. He locked the door anyways

There were other things to attend to though. Like Roxas' ankle. The pair maneuvered their way over to the musty beds pushed into the nearest corner, and then Riku moved around the room to look for supplies of any sort. The closest cupboard was plastered with children's drawings, and stuffed full of more human hair. There was a desk, probably the nurse's, with a journal on it that felt like it was glued to the surface. He passed an anatomical poster with blood painted over the organs, and stopped in front of the second cabinet.

The doors opened with only a squeak; the shelves inside mostly vacant. There was a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and some bandages that were obviously old, but still usable. There was also a blood-caked pair of scissors that he didn't touch.

Between the two of them, they managed to wrap his ankle properly, Roxas telling his friend if it needed to be tighter or not. There wasn't any ice available, so all they could do was prop it up and let it rest for a while. Neither of them were in a particularly big hurry to go anywhere. Riku sat down on the floor and leaned against the side of the bed.

"Where did you learn to wrap a sprained ankle?" Roxas asked after a few minutes of silence.

Riku turned to look at him. "I didn't ever tell you?" The blond shook his head.

With a chuckle, the older boy began recounting his adventure with his best friend; how the two of them had been playing in a field one day, and Sora managed to step in a gopher hole and twist his ankle. That had only been the first time – he'd been such an awkward, klutzy person back then, it was a wonder the brunet hadn't broken something in the process. No, all the incidents had just ended up being sprains of one sort or another. And because of that, Riku had gotten really good at treating them.

Roxas laughed. "I mean, I knew Sora was a klutz, and I knew you dealt with it somehow, but I didn't know it was how you got your first aid skills."

"It's not like I'm a med student or something. I'm just able to deal with the myriad of minor injuries our group manages to accumulate somehow."

Despite the decrepitness present here as much as the other areas they'd passed through, the boys were able to relax for a few minutes. They chatted or just sat in silence, both unwilling to venture back out into the oppressing anxiety.

* * *

_You chose to leave the charms alone..._

* * *

Staring at the charms, the brunet boy nodded slowly. He'd insisted last time, but now... no, those charms were definitely on there for a reason. And whatever that reason was, it was a good enough one to keep them from messing around. They had no way of knowing what was on the other side. Better to trust the opinion of whoever had placed all of the charms there.

"Yeah. Let's leave them alone." He replied, hearing Axel sigh in relief next to him as they turned away. The shaking of the stone quieted. The warmth diminished. The further they got, the more the light suffered. Soon, it went out altogether, and the stone crumbled into dust.

With that way now blocked, the boys went back to searching, first in the music room, and then the rest of the area. A couple of new hallways had opened up, leading to more classrooms. Nothing was fruitful. They didn't need it though; they were only looking for their friends now. They had the information they needed to get them all out of that hellish place.

They'd just finished checking the interior of one of the new classrooms when the earthquake started. The floor heaved under their feet, bucking and buckling and forcing them to their knees where they clutched at each other. The entire building shuddered violently around them.

* * *

Riku and Roxas were on the beds when the earthquake started. As violent as it was, as much as the entire school seemed to scream in a low cacophony, it didn't last long. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed, and then it was as though it'd never happened.

The two boys looked at each other, silently agreeing that it was time to leave the room and see what had happened.

The door across from them was sewn shut with thick, wiry black strands of hair. Both flinched from it, turning their attention away from the unnerving sight to notice that the layout of the hallway was different. The way they'd come from before was gone; there was just a wall there now. They traded wary looks, cautiously making their way down what was available.

The rest of the layout wasn't wholly new, though some of the turns were different. Bodies had moved, as had holes in the floor. Most everything seemed the same though. They paused at the opening to a wide hallway.

"Was this here before?" Riku asked, half to himself. Close as they were, Roxas heard and shrugged a response. It was somewhere else to go.

The area they were led into was new, though more of the same as what they'd left behind. More classrooms, more bodies, more holes. Roxas squeezed his friend to get him to stop. Standing silent, they both listened, ears eventually picking up footsteps. At first they tensed, thinking it the man from before. But faint voices accompanied the movement, too indistinct to catch any actual words. It seemed it was coming towards them though. On mutual silence agreement, they waited.

Soon enough, two familiar faces rounded the corner; Roxas sagged in Riku's grip, practically falling onto his boyfriend as they hugged. Sora pretty much tackled his boy.

The warm reunion quickly reduced to the recounting of facts gathered on both sides. Why exactly the school was haunted and what had occurred there didn't matter so much to them. Rather, the way out that Axel and Sora had found was what they focused on. The entire ritual sounded simple enough. They just had to make sure to do it correctly, or else... well, hopefully it wouldn't get any worse. They all just wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Go home. Maybe forget it ever happened.

Sora repeated the instructions out loud, to make sure everyone knew exactly what to do. They each took out their pieces of paper, fingernails digging into their salvation from death. They began chanting.

* * *

_How many times should they recite the phrase, "Sachiko, we beg of you"?_

_AN: Due to miscommunication on Reiver's part, and thus misunderstanding on my part, I've re-written parts of the chapter to reflect her original decision to pass the charms by, instead of going through them._

_-Sable_


	7. Results

_You guessed five times.._

* * *

The moment they'd all repeated the phrase five times, one for each of them and one for Sachiko's spirit,, and put their pieces of paper together, the school rocked with another earthquake. They jolted, barely managing to stay on their feet as a blinding white light engulfed them.

When they came to, it was squinting against the light of the day streaming through the windows of their... classroom? They were back right where they'd started. At school, middle of the day. They could hear students chattering as they wandered the halls, or calling to each other outside. It was like they hadn't been gone at all.

The boys looked at each other, the question of whether it had all been a dream surfacing in their eyes. The paper doll lay on the ground amidst them, whole once again.

Roxas swallowed, eying the thing. He didn't want to, but he was sure that what they'd been through... it had actually happened. His fingers shook as he grabbed the cutout, folding it gently and putting it into his pocket. He didn't feel safe, tearing it up. Probably burn it when he got home or something.

None of them wanted to talk about it. So they went back outside, smiling and waving as their other friends came to join them. The expressions grew less and less forced as the day continued, and soon, in the light of the sun, it seemed like they hadn't been touched by the horrible curse after all. The day ended on a high note, a huge group of them going to get ice cream and then deciding to wander along the beach as they ate. The two couples broke off from the rest of their friends after that, slowly making their way back to Riku's place for movies and junk food and video games. They joked and laughed. Everything was still the same between them. And somehow, the worries of their lives seemed to not matter so much.

_The End_

* * *

_Final Score: +4, -1_

_Riku &amp; Roxas: Read the note? No (+1)_

_Riku &amp; Roxas: Classroom or Infirmary? Infirmary (-1)_

_Axel &amp; Sora: Enter the room? Yes (+1)_

_Axel &amp; Sora: Banish the charms? No (+1)_

_Final Decision: Chant recited 5 times? Yes (+1)_

_AN: This might've been longer if I wasn't exhausted. Sorry!_

_AN2: Okay, so I realize this was suppose to go up two days ago, but I've literally been busy for 48 hours nonstop, and today I just kind of crashed. So, sincere apologies for the lateness, and the shortness :/_

_-Sable_


End file.
